Saturday, 21 December 2013

O Little Town Near Bethlehem

On Thursday 12 December, members of the
congregation met to watch a screening of the 2011 Oscar nominated documentary 5 Broken Cameras. The film follows the
families of the Palestinian village of Bil’in, in the Occupied Territories, as
they learn in 2005 that the Israeli governments Separation Wall would run close
to the village and deprive them of much of their cultivated land. This land
instead would be taken over by Jewish settlers.

An odd film choice for Christmas? Perhaps not, as the
movie reveals what the current situation of a modern day Bethlehem is like. The
film is shot over five years as the filmmaker works his way through five cameras
before they get broken in various ways. Receiving most of our information on
this part of the world via the news, this intimate documentary is both shocking
and sobering. We become emotionally engaged through the directness of how it is
shot. We watch as his children grow up; their first words being ‘army’ and
‘wall’. There are lasting images presented, from the horrific (olive trees on
fire and people getting shot) to the hopeful (the planting of new olive trees
and a child giving an actual olive branch to a soldier).

Those who watched it found it an eye-opening movie, from
the discussion that followed afterwards. All had thoughts on the film and the
situation, but when presented with the question ‘What can we do about it?’, all
became quiet with uncertainty and an evening about a little town like Bethlehem
ended as a silent night.